Creating a focal point is an important part of scrapbooking. If your page is cluttered and all over the place, it becomes difficult for the eyes to travel across the layout in a focused manner. Focal points usually are the main point of the whole layout.
So how do you choose a focal point? What is typically the focal point on a scrapbooking layout? Does it matter if it is one page or two? Is there supposed to be a different focal point for each page to a layout spread?
Usually the focal point is the best photograph. Not necessarily the one that turned out the clearest, or the brightest or with everyone looking directly at the camera. The best photograph could be the one that evoked the emotions or feelings in you that caused you to create the layout. The best photograph could be the worst in the batch, but some aspect of it spoke out to you and you want it to be the main focus.
Beyond the photographs, there are other options for focal points. It all depends on what you are creating the layout for or about. A focal point might also be the journaling on the page. Perhaps you are telling a story in which you have no photograph or very few. Or maybe you wrote the poem that you placed on the page and you would like that to be the focal point.
It is not necessary, though it can help with the flow of the layout, to choose two focal points if you are working on a two page layout spread. This will help keep the eye trained to scan around the rest and focus mainly on the photograph or the journaling that you want the eye to look at. I feel that choosing more than one focal point for a two page layout is totally a personal choice.
Once you have chosen your focal point, it is time to look at ways to place the focal point and how to actually create the focal point. Watch for that article coming tomorrow.
Nicole Humphrey writes articles for the Scrapbooking Blog and for the Frugal Blog. She also guest blogs on a variety of topics. You can read more of her articles by clicking here.
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